The beauty company that makes products you swallow

Ever notice how your medicine cabinet can become a graveyard of beauty products that promise to clear up your skin, and… don’t? At least that’s how entrepreneur Walter Faulstroh felt, until he finally consulted a nutritionist to clear up his adult acne. Once he started eating better and taking supplements, he finally saw results. “It changed my life,” he says. And it gave him a business idea: to create Hum Nutrition, a line of supplements that uses science-based nutrition to solve beauty issues.

“We start with a consumer problem, like acne, and then ask, ‘What are the nutrients that will help?” Faulstroh says. To make sure your skin is getting more of what it needs to exude its naturally clear and glowy state—and none of what it doesn’t—the supplements are encapsulated in algae instead of gelatin, and are free of gluten, GMOs, artificial colors, and preservatives.

Whether you’re fed up with brittle nails, want shinier hair, or are looking for glowing skin (instead of, say, visible signs of stress like dark circles), there’s a Hum supplement for that, totaling 20 targeted blends that may use a range of plants from detoxing dandelion root to omega-rich black currant seed.

Which explains why Hum bears little resemblance to synthetic drugstore vitamins, including the two ways you can buy them. For a customized experience, you can fill out an online questionnaire and have your vitamin cocktail hand selected by a nutritionist, which will then be shipped to your door every four weeks (for $20–$60). Or you can stop by select Sephora locations for the supplement that best fits the benefits you’re hoping for, say Killer Nails (which also helps thicken hair).

“Our standards are really high,” says Faulstroh. “Everything we do is based in science. Our nutrients are pure and get results.” But Faulstroh isn’t guaranteeing clear, ageless skin overnight. He estimates it takes four to six weeks to detect results from Hum Nutrition’s products.

“You don’t get an instant benefit from a supplement,” says Faulstroh, refreshingly dispensing with overblown marketing promises. But considering the wait is for a natural beauty boost from the inside out, it just might be worth it. —Rachel Brown